The thing about Mike Deodato and drawing women

I've had the good fortune to have some of my stories drawn by Mike Deodato, Jr., an extraordinarily talented artist. This was back in the days when "Mike Deodato's Jade Warriors" was published by Image, then later by Avatar (at least until Avatar somehow neglected to pay for the work--and I'm not holding my breath or anything, but the creative team, myself included, WOULD like to have that taken care of sometime...).

Anyway, people like to get on his case for drawing really, really sexy women. "It's unrealistic and demeaning", some people proclaim.

I have two problems with this. First, Deodato doesn't get the final say on how a character looks, the publisher does. The Editor runs the book, backed up in some cases by a "group editor", but always then by an Editor-in-Chief, the real-life Perry White who ultimately makes the company call. If they had a problem with the way Deodato draw the pages, believe me, they'd speak up. So, the quarrel some people may have is NOT with the artist (or, for that matter, the writer, operating under the same chain of command), it's with the Editors, or ultimately, the Publisher.


Second, I've had occasion to se pictures of the women living in Deodato's general neighborhood, and in the major cities and beaches nearby.











Take my word for it, those proportions DO exist. Also the clothes. Business suits for women with skirts cut tight and short. Exercise outfits that would make Olivia Newton-John grab for a potato sack. As to the bathing suits....what there is of them...let's say he's adapted to American's relatively prudish sensibilities, at least to a point.

























The really funny thing? Deodato enjoys drawing monsters. Wouldn't you just know it?







So, the next time you think you have a complaint about what you see (or read), ask yourself, who are you REALLY annoyed at?

Mike